HELP, COMPUTER DOESN'S RECPGNIZE HD

[robert t]

This is going to be a bit long so thanks to everyone willing to read
thru it.
A SERIES OF MISTAKES:
In April 2004 I bought a used Dell Dimension 8250(P4,2.4GHz,40G,512ram
with an upgraded video card) on eBay. It worked fine with only 1 small
problem.
It would not reboot using the restart. I had to manually reboot it
after the saving settings message went off and it said "windows is
shutting down". But I could live with that.
MISTAKE #1: I decided to upgrade to XP pro so I bought a supposedly new
version of xp pro on eBay. The new install went fine until I rebooted
after downloading SP2. I got an error message saying "Windows Explorer
was shutting down" and to report the error to Microsoft. No matter what
I did I couldn't get out of that loop. I couldn't get to the Start Menu.
MISTAKE #2: I had 2 partitions on the HD. A C for the OS and a D for
data. I am backed up on an external USB/Firewire HD. I tried to use
FDISK to reformat the C partition, couldn't because FDISK can't deal
with NTFS.
MISTAKE #3: I then called around and found a computer place that would
reformat my HD for $25 so I had them do it. Now, my computer cannot
recognize the HD. One of the 4 diagnostic lights on PC stays orange and
all 4 of them should be green.
I don't want to throw good money after bad, but am willing to try things
if there is a chance. I could buy a new HD relatively inexpensively,
but it may not be the HD??????????
Any comments, suggestions would be extremely welcome. Thanks ahead.
Robert

 

[Fitz]

Have you backed up your data? (My Documents, etc.)

If so, try reinstalling XP, not a repair but full install. During the
install process, select to delete existing partitions. I would assume your
copy of XP that you bought is legitimate, correct? By that I mean it's a
silver MS disk with logos, etc and you have the product keys with the CD
case.

 

[robert t]

I am backed up but the problem is that now I have a totally erased HD
that my PC cannot recognize. And no, the copy of XP PRO is not
legitimate. I got screwed on ebay and that is why I ended where I am
now. The PC came with XP HOME and I would dearly like to get that back
on. But after I loaded the illegitimate XP pro and went online the OS
shut down windows explorer and I couldn't get out of an error message
loop it put me in. So I tried to reformat(delete) the C drive with
Fdisk, but it cannot handle NTFS formats, only FAT32, so I took it to a
computer place and told them to reformat(erase) the HD. I then planned
to repartition and reformat again and then install the original XP HOME,
but now my PC cannot even recognize(see) the HD on boot up. There are
so many possibilities as to what is now wrong that it makes my head
spin. In case you don't know it, FDisk is a dos based partitioner and
formatter that you can put on a a boot up floppy to partion and then
format a HD. Maybe some secret Dell code got erased off the HD at the
place I had reformat the entire HD. I should have had them just
reformat the C partion so then I maybe could have rinstalled the
original XP HOME. As I mentioned below, there are 4 diagnostic lights
on the back of my Dell Dimension 8250 and they should all be green on
boot up, but one is orange. It says to check cable connections, etc
which I have done. I would even be willing to buy a new HD, but I am
now concerned that dell may have coded the HD so it is specific to my PC
and a new HD would not work either. What a mess.

 

[Fitz]

I've always had Dell systems. Dell doesn't put any info on the HD that
would cause your system not to recognize the HD if it's formatted (I've
formatted several times). Is the HD listed in the BIOS and is the BIOS set
to boot to the CD first? If it is, you should be able to install XP. If
not, you may want to consider taking your computer back to the place that
formatted it. Sounds like they may have screwed it up but probably not to
the point of replacing the HD.

Hope you reported the eBayer.

Let us know.

 

[Alan]

I've always had Dell systems. Dell doesn't put any info on the HD that
would cause your system not to recognize the HD if it's formatted (I've
formatted several times). Is the HD listed in the BIOS and is the BIOS set
to boot to the CD first? If it is, you should be able to install XP. If
not, you may want to consider taking your computer back to the place that
formatted it. Sounds like they may have screwed it up but probably not to
the point of replacing the HD.

Hope you reported the eBayer.

Let us know.

If I remember correctly, FDisk can re-partition FAT32 over NTFS. It
doesnt know what NTFS is, but goes on its merry way. As far as the
diagnostic lights, theres a chance that one of the techs opened the case
and didnt plug everything back in correctly. Fitz has a good thought in
seeing if the hard drive is visable in the BIOS.